For gas utilities, there are several system integrity activities that are labor intensive and expensive to perform. Gas utilities presently utilize correctors installed at the meter to compensate meter readings for pressure and temperature to more accurately calculate gas usage. For example, pressure recorders have paper charts that either need to be replaced each week or the pressure values need to be downloaded to a portable computer. Currently, meter reads from such correctors are returned to a meter reading system as pulse counts of corrected usage. Existing gas endpoints are capable of capturing and reporting a single corrected reading.
Correctors are generally used on high volume, e.g., commercial, meters, and contain many metering parameters that are not typically brought back to an associated utility through an Automated Meter Reading (AMR) network. Temperature is one parameter of known particular interest since there is a relationship between temperature and pressure that can alter the accuracy of the measurement of the gas consumed. Not knowing the temperature at the meter can lead to either of an under or over accounting for the gas sold (i.e., delivered).
Further, there are general telemetry measurements that cannot be economically transported back to an associated gas utility since many of the measurement sites lack power for radio systems, and since cellular modems require large batteries that need frequent replacement.
United States Patent Application Publication 2008/0177678 A1 to DiMartini et al. discloses a method described as communicating between a utility and its customer locations. United States Patent Application Publication 2006/0031180 A1 to Tamarkin et al. describes integrated metrology systems and information and control apparatus for interaction with integrated metrology systems. U.S. Pat. No. 7,069,161 B2 to Gristina et al. discloses a system described as managing resource infrastructure and resource consumption in real time. The complete disclosures of all United States Published patent applications and patents mentioned herein are fully incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
While various implementations of telemetry systems have been developed, and while various integrated metrology systems have been developed, no design has emerged that generally encompasses all of the desired characteristics as hereafter presented in accordance with the subject technology.